Chinese takeout

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

I saw a small video where a few senior citizens who were from China were given different American Chinese food types and then had American Born Chinese kids do the same taste tests. The older people liked some of the food they ate better than the old world version, said some tasted exactly the same and said some tasted awful. The American Chinese kids were hyper-critical (none of these kids had been to or lived in China supposedly) and said almost everything was "nothing like real Chinese food".
The lesson I got from that was that some of our dishes aren't much different than old world Chinese recipies, and some are. And at least one group of Chinese kids born in America have no idea what real Chinese food tastes like, but want to act like they know their culture better than they really do.
Also depending on which restaurant you go to or order from, like anywhere you eat, you may get great food or horrible food. It all depends on who's cooking it, not necessarily if its "authentic" enough.
I've a few friends who I grew up with that are 2nd generation Chinese (born here) but their parents (and grandparents) came over from China and opened a restaurant in my hometown. I've got to say it was damn good food, and considering that the owners and operators were all originally from China, I'd say it was authentic enough.
I will also say too that the quality of our ingredients may be different than in China so the taste may change, and depending on what your palate is used to, you may not find it to be of your liking because you're used to something different. Maybe a spice grown here was grown differently or used a different fertilizer and it changed the taste slightly, maybe the pork quality is different. I can definitely tell when I use different quality ingredients when I cook a dish, the taste will be off if I don't use what I normally do.
I definitely wouldn't say that all "American" Chinese food is not "authentic" because you don't know if those recipies being used are in fact developed by someone who was Chinese or not. And its an insult to the Chinese Americans who own and operate a lot of these restaurants to tell them their food isn't "authentic". Panda Express on the other hand... they get some things right, but most of it is about as good as a burger from McDonalds vs. a quality home-cooked hamburger.

 

[Lil devils x_v1legacy]

Do they sell Japanese soy sauce in Mainland China? Kikkiman tastes NOTHING like Chinese soy sauce, and makes the food taste weird. Do they also sell actual Chinese soy sauce too in Taiwan though? LOL

Yup, sure do. We really just look at it as another sauce in pantry so to speak. Nothing is going to go with everything after all .

Not sure why you'd find it surprising that Taiwanese uses Chinese soy sauce - the political situation aside, the vast majority of Taiwanese today are of the Han ethnicity(Hoklo/Hakka), and despite the influence of Japanese and European colonialism, the cuisine is still largely derivative of their Chinese origin, and naturally includes the soy sauce

Now that I think about it, the usage of soy sauce as a stand-alone condiment is something I don't usually see except in the US. Most of the time people make their own special sauce mix, of which soy sauce is just one of the ingredients.

I don't find it surprising Taiwanese use Chinese soy sauce, I find it surprising you use Japanese soy sauce since they do not taste the same at all. Maybe it is due to the Japanese and US influence? I can understand Taiwan having it but Mainland China?
I wouldn't think mainland China would use Japanese soy sauce, they do not have the best of relations and come across as quite nationalistic for the most part.

I too do not consider soy sauce a stand alone condiment, it is supposed to be used to make the sauce, but which type of soy sauce used is important to the overall flavor of the sauce.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I have my favorites and I have items that I wouldn't normally touch. It all depends on what you prefer I suppose and as someone else already said, don't let one bad meal color your entire perception of the entire genre.

 

[JohnnyDelRay]

Despite being half-Chinese, I'll have to say the somewhat "adulterated" versions of Chinese dishes have more appeal to me. No, I don't mean the typical Chinese takeout, but I prefer the Chinese food in other countries rather than China itself. Even in places with less than "typical of the mainland", like Taiwanese, Singapore and Hong Kong I find more appealing.

Having traveled over China's main cities and provinces I must admit I find it a bit too oily and heavy.

These are all VERY wide generalizations however, take them as you will. I've actually had GREAT takeout (in San Francisco), and vomit-inducing takeout in various parts of the world, from Australia to Indonesia, where I'm currently residing.

 

[Lil devils x_v1legacy]

Despite being half-Chinese, I'll have to say the somewhat "adulterated" versions of Chinese dishes have more appeal to me. No, I don't mean the typical Chinese takeout, but I prefer the Chinese food in other countries rather than China itself. Even in places with less than "typical of the mainland", like Taiwanese, Singapore and Hong Kong I find more appealing.

Having traveled over China's main cities and provinces I must admit I find it a bit too oily and heavy.

These are all VERY wide generalizations however, take them as you will. I've actually had GREAT takeout (in San Francisco), and vomit-inducing takeout in various parts of the world, from Australia to Indonesia, where I'm currently residing.

I am completely hooked on Hong Kong Chinese food and the first thing I do when I get to a city is start looking for authentic Hong Kong Chinese places because I would probably die without it.

 

[lunavixen]

Well, what you'd eat in a non Asian country would merely be a local Westernised variant, the local restaurant near me in Australia is expensive (like everything else in Australia), but quite nice my favourite being the singapore noodles, with this version, just think fried rice ingredients (minus prawns for me due to allergy) with thin noodles instead of rice and a curry flavour to it instead of soy sauce. So good :3

 

[Rahkshi500]

Call me someone of poor taste if you want, but I wouldn't really care about the whole fight between "real Chinese food" and "gross Chinese food", it tastes it good, and most of the time it has tasted good, then I'll enjoy, because I've actually tried Chinese food from restaurants and even tried some from Chinese markets before and there wasn't much of a difference in quality.

 

[JohnnyDelRay]

snip
Even in places with less than "typical of the mainland", like Taiwanese, Singapore and Hong Kong I find more appealing.

I am completely hooked on Hong Kong Chinese food and the first thing I do when I get to a city is start looking for authentic Hong Kong Chinese places because I would probably die without it.

In Hong Kong itself the food is just amazing. Even the Portuguese-influenced stuff like the baked rice, and the Hong Kong-styled deserts/breads are fantastic. The roasted duck/beef/pork dishes are what gets my blood going though, get excited just thinking about it

 

[viscomica]

I don't know about chinese (american) take out but I have tried the vietnamese take out and yum! Pho and sriracha? Count me in!

 

[L. Declis]

I don't find it surprising Taiwanese use Chinese soy sauce, I find it surprising you use Japanese soy sauce since they do not taste the same at all. Maybe it is due to the Japanese and US influence? I can understand Taiwan having it but Mainland China?
I wouldn't think mainland China would use Japanese soy sauce, they do not have the best of relations and come across as quite nationalistic for the most part.

I too do not consider soy sauce a stand alone condiment, it is supposed to be used to make the sauce, but which type of soy sauce used is important to the overall flavor of the sauce.

Well, Taiwan was owned by the Japanese until the end of World War 2, so they certainly have some Japanese influence.

As for Mainland China, yeah, they have Japanese soy sauce and Japanese restaurants are very popular. The whole nationalism thing was hugely overblown in most areas; it's like saying America would never have Mexican food as they have a bit of a history, or that Britain would never eat any french food. As long as you don't mention the Rape of Nanjing, or the Sengoku Islands, the Chinese by and large are indifferent towards the Japanese.

In some provinces of Mainland China, they will use soy sauce as a condiment, usually with rice.

 

[Zetatrain]

Well as someone who grew up eating authentic Chinese food (my mother was born and raised in Taiwan), takeout is pretty good. Its not as good as the real thing IMO, but its not bad. The one thing I find that American Chinese food has over authentic Chinese food is that is tastes better the day after.

 

[Headsprouter]

I love Chinese take-away, but only recently have I really begun to broaden my horizon when it comes to dishes. I've always been a fussy sort, and I think the reason I like my current take-away so much is because the food they serve is drier than other take-aways normally are. There's a take-away just a bit up from where it is, which has a four-star rating for its cuisine, but it's not to my taste. So I guess it's like anything else, depends on who you are.

Surprised nobody posted this. It's both cringeworthy and enlightening.

 

[Orga777]

Chinese takeout is awesome. Chicken lo-mein with fried rice is the best! XD

 

[EvilRoy]

In western Canada thanks in part to the trans Canada rail, we have a very odd but specific type Chinese food that I personally love. I really just call it small town Chinese, because it is clearly distinct from fast food, but has been very americanized due to the passage of time. Basically, mix traditional cooking methods with skilled cooks and legacy recipes and then let the passage of time subtly alter the style and flavor of the cooking.

You get family restaurants that make excellent food likely wholly unrelated to real Chinese, and I love it.